


Around Saturn's Rings

by jolivira



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Cause I Said So, F/F, Fluff, Human AU, I might squeeze a tiny bit of angst in there but it's not the main focus, Kid Fic, Puppy Love, Romance, Single Parent AU, Thirteen has a daughter, Useless Lesbians, and an old blue car, dorky, look out for cheeky references to the show, thasmin, thirteen would be a good mum, this is so fluffy, yaz is really sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2019-11-13 11:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18031271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolivira/pseuds/jolivira
Summary: Ever since her wife passed away, Jo has tried her best to stay optimistic for the sake of their daughter. And once Melody was old enough to ask questions, Jo began to tell her tales about outer space: how she had fought against an alien metal race that wanted to exterminate everything in its path; how angel statues made of stone actually moved when they weren't looking, and even about this beautiful planet called Akhaten where there the residents were constantly singing a lullaby.Eventually it became a distraction for both of them concerning their loss.Things are better now though, two and a half years later, and it never crossed Jo's mind she would find love again. That is, until a certain police officer walked into her life.





	1. A four year old

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who made the bad decision of starting yet another work before continuing the other unfinished ones??? Yup, that's me!!  
> I was really inspired to write a human AU (because I love those) and at the same time I wanted more thasmin in my life (cause I love them too)  
> And now we're here! Hope it's a fun read (✿◠‿◠)ﾉ

 

Thankfully, the fair was not at its most crowded that day. Yasmin stood with her arms crossed as she watched the dozens of people walking back and forth between the food stands and the piled up mountains of fruits and vegetables. She briefly wondered if she should check out the spice options, maybe buy a few to her gran, when something caught her attention.

 

A little girl with dark curly hair tied back in a short ponytail. As she got closer, hands fumbling nervously with the hem of her sweater, Yaz noticed her glossy eyes and her irritated red nose. With a small and warm smile, Yaz crouched down to the kid’s height:

 

“Hello sweetheart. Are you alright?”

 

“M-mummy told me to find a police officer when I g-get lost.”

 

Yaz’s heart melted at the girl’s weak tone of voice. But she had dealt with many lost kids before and actually considered herself really good at situations like these.

 

“Smart woman, your mum. Why don’t you tell me what she’s like?”

 

“She’s pretty.”

 

Yaz lightly chuckled, encouraging her to speak. “Yeah?” The girl nodded very seriously before continuing:

 

“She has blonde hair like this,” she put her hands on her shoulder blades to show the length of the hair “a-and she has a big blue coat.”

 

“Do you remember where you last saw her?” the girl shook her head and more tears began to pool in her eyes, ready to fall. “No, no. It’s okay, sweetheart. We’re gonna find her, don’t worry.”

 

Yaz firmly held one of her hands and stood up.

 

When she glanced down to take a look at the little girl a few seconds later, Yaz noticed she had attached herself to her leg, holding the cloth of her pants tightly. She breathed relieved as the tears seemed to have stopped, for now.

 

“And what does your mummy do?” Yaz left the most crowded area of the food stands and they calmly walked the other way, eyes searching for a blue coat and short blonde hair.

 

“She travels to space!”

 

“Oh wow. That’s a cool job. Does she take you along?”

 

The small talk seemed to be working well as a temporary distraction. They walked around for a few more minutes until Yaz picked up a voice on the background, not very far away:

 

“Have you seen a little girl by herself? Four year old wearing a pink sweater and-” at the first sight of a blue coat flowing on the wind the girl exclaimed, still holding onto Yaz:

 

“Mum!!”

 

The woman in question instantly turned around and desperately raced to her daughter, quickly kneeling down on the ground to hug her.

 

“Melody, are you okay?? What happened?” her hands cupped the small cheeks, checking her face for any worrying signs. The little girl, Melody, only hugged her tighter as she hid her face on her mother’s chest. The woman closed her eyes and her shoulders slumped down, relaxed.

 

It took her about ten seconds to acknowledge Yaz’s presence. Her eyes shot upwards and she cradled Melody on her arms to stand up, a grin forming on her features:

 

“Thank you so much, officer. I was getting so worried.” she blew a few blonde strands of hair out of her eye and Yaz felt herself blushing slightly under her gaze. Melody wasn’t lying when she said her mother was pretty.

 

“I’m Joanne, people just call me Jo. And well, you already met Melody here. Again thank you for looking after her.”

 

“Uhm… I’m Yasmin, but you can call me Yaz.” she tripped over her words, mentally kicking herself. They simply stared at each other for a few moments, listening to Melody’s silent sniffing subduing. “Uhm, you did good on teaching her to look for a police officer. Makes it easier for us to help them.”

 

Joanne patted on her daughter’s back to coax her out of the strong grip she had around her neck.

 

“Hear that? Don’t you want to thank officer Yasmin for bringing you to me?” the girl nodded and quietly said her “thanks”, squeezing her mother’s coat in the same comforting way she had done with Yaz’s uniform.

 

“It’s no problem, really. And Melody was great company, she told me all about your trips to other planets.”

 

Joanne scrunched her nose and smiled fondly at her daughter.

 

“ _ Ah! _ So you just spilled all my secrets like that?” she moved her arms up and down and the playfulness managed to get a giggle out of the girl. Yaz felt completely entranced by Jo, by her fun and caring nature towards her daughter.

 

Melody tapped her mum’s shoulder and started to whisper in her ear, hands cupping around her mouth in a mischievous nature. Yaz watched with a smile as Jo fully got into character and spoke in pretend conspiracy:

 

“Really? Sure we can trust her? If you say so… ” Jo loudly cleared her throat, which made Melody giggle once more. “Officer Yaz, would you like to come with us for an ice cream?”

 

Yaz could feel the gears turning in her brain, balancing out the pros and cons.

 

First obvious thing: Jo was definitely not asking because she had liked Yaz personally, she probably only felt grateful and wanted to repay her. They had exchanged a total of three sentences, for goodness sake. The second obvious thing: she had a daughter, which usually meant there would be another parent involved.

 

And even if all of these assumptions did not line up, there was still a very slim chance that Jo even swinged that way.

 

But, really, who was she kidding?

 

“Yeah, I would love to.”

 

Useless brain.

 

/////

 

They left the busy fair and headed for an ice cream shop, just a block away. Melody had cheered up with the prospect of ice cream and decided to get down from her mother’s arms. Yaz took her jacket off and tied it around her waist, relieved her shift had ended about 15 minutes ago.

 

Jo told her that they always attended to the weekly food fair and Melody would always come home with a paper bag filled with baked sweets.

 

A little bell ringed when they walked through the door, Melody took off running to check the ice cream options while Yaz and Jo settled on a small table, adorned with some flowers.

 

“So, what planets do you work at?” Jo smiled cheekly at the question, eyes turning to look at her.

 

“I’m actually an astrophysicist.” Yaz’s eyes widened showing her surprise. “But that’s too boring for Mels. So I prefer to tell her about my ‘crazy adventures’.”

 

“I don’t think it’s boring.”

 

“Ooh, just wait a few minutes until I start rambling on gravitational fields, you’ll be snoring in no time.” Jo said chuckling.

 

“I’m up for testing that theory.” Yaz froze and began to panic as she registered the words that had just left her mouth. Her brain was definitely plotting against her. Before she opened her mouth again to make an even bigger fool of herself, Melody arrived with a triple ice cream covered in chocolate chips.

 

“Mum! The nice lady put two oreos for me. Two!”

 

Jo didn’t miss a beat as she took one of the biscuits, popping it into her mouth. Before Melody could protest she gestured at Yaz:

 

“Go pick something for you. It’s on me, don’t worry.”

 

Yaz started to resist but was quickly silenced. She walked to the displayed flavours and asked for a small cup of peanut ice cream. She thanked the lady behind the counter and walked over to their table. Melody was already halfway on her ice cream, Jo seemed to be doing a good job on helping with the arduous task.

 

“Aw she didn’t give you oreos?” Melody lifted her eyes worriedly. 

 

“It wouldn’t go well with peanut, I presume.”

 

Jo gave the plastic spoon back to her daughter and crossed her legs. She asked:

 

“Do you always take shifts here on the fair, Yaz?”

 

“This is the first time I was assigned here. We usually go with partners to public gatherings like this but Sheffield’s local fair rarely is troubling.”

 

Jo nodded as she absentmindedly played with her daughter’s curly ponytail, the glance of her eyes incredibly soft.

 

“Do you reckon you’ll be here next week too?”

 

Yaz was at a loss of words. Was that what she thought it was…? No, she must be imagining the intentions behind it.

 

“Uhh, yes, I think probably for the next month. That’s how our assignments work.”

 

Jo sent her another one of her big toothy smiles and Yaz felt herself becoming visibly flustered. She returned a smile of her own and lowered her gaze as they continued talking.

 

The sun was setting down quickly and Yaz was reminded with a jolt that her gran was probably already expecting her. She thanked them for the ice cream and mentioned she still needed to leave the uniform at the station before heading to her grandma’s house.

 

“It was great meeting you, Yaz.” Jo said, now holding Melody in her lap who frowned just a little to see her go.

 

“Bye, sweetheart.” she waved at Melody. “See you, Jo.”

 

The bell at the door ringed again as she left. A few steps out of the shop, Yaz glanced back and saw Jo still holding her daughter with a content smile on her face. Something inside her warmed at that lovely sight.

 

/////


	2. The blue balloon

Yaz stepped out of the boutique store with a package in hand, adjusting her long braid over her shoulder. She heard a loud and almost comical gasp coming from behind, next thing she knew her face was hit by a navy blue balloon and tiny hands were reaching for her shirt.

 

“Mummy! It’s Yaz!”

 

She swatted the balloon away to see Melody with a huge smile plastered on her face. She was wearing a flower dress and purple flip flops, hair loose this time, small dark curls falling all around her face. The little girl turned around causing the balloon (it was tied around her wrist, Yaz quickly noted) to hit her face again.

 

“Mels!” hearing Jo’s voice sent a rush of emotion through Yaz’s body. She extended her arms to hold the balloon in place, in a safe distance away from Yaz’s face. They shared a glance, looking in each other’s eyes, then Jo started to chuckle.

 

“Thanks. That’s one powerful weapon you got there, Melody.” Yaz said, joining the laughter for a bit. She pushed a hair strand behind her ear. “It’s so nice to see you two again! Just taking a walk around the block?”

 

“We’re going to look for a spaceship!!” Mels lifted her hands up in excitement, Yaz eyed the balloon nervously.

 

“Melody saw a spaceship crash yesterday, so we’re heading to the park to look for it.”

 

“Yeah! But it’s gonna be hard because it’s really tiny!” she looked around suspiciously before adding in a quieter tone “Mum thinks it’s alien bugs but don’t tell anyone.” Yaz made sure to visibly nod in understandment.

 

“Would you… like to join us, Yaz?” Jo asked, both hands sliding to rest inside her overall shorts’ pockets.

 

“Oh, yes of course.” and her heart skipped a beat as Jo’s smile grew significantly brighter at her response.

 

And only a few minutes later they arrived at the park; Melody immediately let go of her mother’s hand and ran off to the colorful playground. Jo gestured for them to sit at one of the wooden benches a few meters away. They watched in silence as Melody joined another two kids playing tag, the blue balloon spiralling behind.

 

“Is it always just you and Melody, then?”

 

“Afraid so.” Jo weakly smiled at Yaz, hands fiddling with her purple converse sneakers, one leg tucked under the other. “River, my- well my wife, passed away a few years ago.”

 

Shit. Shit shit shit. A dozen of alarms blasted in Yaz’s brain, she tried her best to correct her mistake:

 

“I-I’m so sorry. It’s so nosy of me, I don’t know why I even asked.” That was a lie, of course she bloody knew. Yaz had been so interested about this woman and it had been on her mind since they had seen each other for the first time, a week and a half ago on that fair. At least her brain seemed to be on her side this time and didn’t go out spilling all her feelings, for once.

 

“No, you don’t have to worry, it’s okay. It’s important to talk about it, I suppose.”

 

Melody had dragged one of the other kids under the seesaw and was kneeled on the grass, purple flip flops forgotten on the side. The balloon was still tied around her wrist, moving frantically with her movements as she told her new friend all about tiny aliens and spaceships. Yaz wondered if Jo was the same when she told her she rambled.

 

“I imagine it must be hard to talk about it with her.”

 

Jo sighed lightly. “It really is… She can’t understand it very well yet and I just never know how to bring it up. We had always wanted kids, you know.”

 

“You and…”

 

“River. Yes… I have always loved children, had to work with them for a while to get my pedagogy degree. And then the opportunity came, we were really happy to have Mels.”

 

“Sorry, but I thought you were an astrophysicist?”

 

“I am!” Jo smiled warmly at her. A few seconds passed until she understood Yaz’s confusion. “ _Oh_ , of course. I actually teach at the University of Sheffield, I didn’t necessarily need a complete education degree but I wanted to. So I taught high schoolers basic physics for some time.”

 

“You seem like a cool teacher.” Yaz grinned as Jo puffed her chest out.

 

“I sure hope so! And I love teaching, it’s basically people paying me to blabber on stuff that I’m obsessed about! It started as an accident though. I actually wanted to be an anthropologist.”

 

Yaz chuckled at how anyone could aim for anthropology and “accidentally” end up with a doctorate in astrophysics.

 

“I never imagined myself as anything but a police officer.”

 

“Just like Judy Hopps!!”

 

Yaz slowly turned to stare at Jo, eyebrows drawing together.

 

“You know!! The bunny cop from Zootopia? No?” getting only a few puzzled blinks from the pair of dark eyes in response, Jo finally shrugged, lifting her hands in surrender. “I gotta keep up to date in disney movies. And that’s a really good one, you should definitely watch it.”

 

“Is that an invitation?” Yaz said quietly, half of her brain already setting off celebratory fireworks when the other half was running around screaming in despair.

 

Jo didn’t answer, her mouth hanging halfway open. She then proceeded to swallow, sniffing her nose loudly one time. Her hands started to fidget with the fabric of her overall shorts.

 

“So, how about you, Yaz?”

 

“Hum?”

 

“Do you have someone in your life?” Jo’s eyes daring to flicker over her face.

 

“Obviously. I mean-” Jo opened her mouth and no sound came out for the second time in under two minutes, her cheeks were starting to flush red. “where would I be without my grandma?” Yaz completed.

 

They both chuckled at that, smiles never leaving their faces. A few minutes went by comfortably and soon enough Melody was making her way back. Jo waved like a proud mom, quite literally, and Melody hopped on her lap effortlessly; Yaz managed to dodge the passive aggressive balloon only on the last second.

 

“Did you find the spaceship, sweetheart?”

 

The little girl turned and shook her head at Yaz just as Jo’s hands began to brush her daughter’s curls, ruffling the hair gently. Melody leaned into the loving touch and adjusted her body, now perfectly stretched over her mum’s.

 

“We can always go look in another park, maybe they moved the spaceship around. I mean, if I had one I definitely wouldn’t be in the same place for long, would you?” Melody lifted her eyes to Jo and the adorable little smile came running back.

 

“Yaz will come too?”

 

“If she wants to, sure. Don’t see why not.” Jo answered, eyes locked with her daughter, one hand still petting her locks while the other supported the little girl’s body.

A dog’s bark, from not too far away, interrupted all of their thoughts. Melody jumped right off and dashed, enthusiasm written all over her face. Before she got too far Jo shouted:

 

“Don’t forget to ask for permission to play with it first!”

 

“Okay!!!” Mels shouted back.

 

They watched as the blue balloon tossed and turned and then when it finally came to a halt. Melody stopped in front of a large st. bernard, she seemed to have spoken a few words with the owner (a teenager boy) and soon enough both were rolling in the grass having the time of their lives. Unable to resist, Jo grabbed her smartphone and snapped a few pictures of the two of them.

 

The hopeful side of Yaz’s brain was telling her that this was the perfect moment. She had to do it, it was now or never. The other side was still running around screaming.

 

“Jo… Look, I know you were just telling me about your wife, who is gone-” Yaz cringed at her words, she wanted to dig up a hole and hide forever. When she opened her eyes again she saw Jo staring at her patiently, curiosity written all over her face. “But I-I loved spending time with you and Melody. I was thinking… maybe you would like to… to go out… with me?”

 

She held her breath, waiting for a gentle rejection. Jo leaned her head on her shoulder in a shy manner, eyes gleaming and a small smile beginning to form. And God, she looked so adorable it made Yaz’s insides start to squirm.

 

But not nearly as much as the answer that followed did:

 

“Yaz, I-... You know what, that would be lovely, actually.”

 

/////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me again!  
> I'm having a lot of fun with this (it's a very self indulgent fanfic if you haven't noticed yet) and I don't really have any major plans hahaha. Hopefully it's as fun to read as it is to write =D  
> I also wanted to note that, in this fic, I decided to have them both around the same age. I imagined Yaz around 28 years old and Jo with 33.  
> So we might get to see Najia later on, but not living at the same house as Yaz, you know?  
> That's all bye (✿◠‿◠)ﾉ


	3. And then I said...

The knock on the door pulled Jo out of her mindless daydreaming, the exaggerated sounds of the cartoons suddenly coming into focus in her brain. She walked to the front door to unlock it and, as usual, the key took a second and a third try before budging.

 

“Hi, Jo. Brought you some hot chocolate.” Clara stepped inside handing her a warm cup from the coffee shop nearby. She wore a buttoned up blouse, dark blue cotton tights and a flowy skirt that fit nicely with the delicate black boots she had on.

 

Jo smiled at the warm and sugary scent of the drink as Clara made her way towards the wooden table; they sat beside each other and chatted for a while, Melody too entranced by the colorful characters on the TV to notice Clara’s arrival.

 

Apart from Melody, Jo’s family resumed to her uncle, an old and grumpy chap who taught in the University of London. It was a running joke that nobody knew what he was teaching exactly, but he had been there for about 40 years now. Clara had been one of his proteges before she moved away, which happened to coincide perfectly with River’s passing.

 

Clara had been incredibly supportive and soon became the closest thing Jo had to a good friend. Every tuesday, thursday and friday, at 4 in the afternoon, she picked up Melody in school and looked after her until Jo came back from her last class, usually around 8 o’clock. She got paid weekly, of course; but in all honesty, Clara had formed a strong bond with Melody and didn’t mind it in the slightest.

They both took a sip from their drinks as Jo gathered the courage to speak:

 

“I was asked on a date.”

 

Almost like an instinctive reaction, Clara’s eyebrows knitted in confusion, her eyes widened, her face displaying pure disbelief.

 

“And I said yes.” Jo finished, eyes looking down.

 

“Who is it?!? Someone from the uni?” Clara asked excitedly, a large cheshire-like grin plastered on her face.

 

“A police officer, we met her on the fair.”

 

“That’s great, Jo!”

 

She nodded, hands starting to fidget slightly. “So… can you babysit on saturday?”

 

“You’re gonna spend the night out??” Clara’s eyebrows lifted up teasingly. Jo proceeded to blush from the very tip of her ears to the base of her neck.

 

“No, it’s-it’s nothing like that, Clara!! I don’t think so, at least.” She frowned, genuinely confused. 

 

Clara began to laugh at her embarrassment. “Well, are you interested in something like that?”

 

Jo somehow managed to blush even harder as she teared her gaze away once again.

 

“Oh my God, you are!! I need to tell Ashildr.”

 

“Nooo, I will never hear the end of it of you tell her.” Clara only continued to laugh at her friend’s whining.

 

“But seriously, though! Her name is Yasmin and she’s really nice and sweet. Melody liked her a lot, I think that must be a good sign. It is, isn’t it?”

 

“Sure. Then why are you so nervous to talk about it?”

 

“I don’t know… Just feels weird.”

 

“Jo…” she said carefully, the conversation quickly losing its playfulness. “is this about River?”

 

Jo continued to fidget, eyes landing on Melody’s relaxed figure from across the room. “Maybe, I don’t know…”

 

Clara’s eyes softened quickly. Of course. She reached for her hand in a comforting motion.

 

“It’s not wrong to feel happy about stuff like this, Jo.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

Clara sighed, frustrated but already used to Jo never letting her fragility show. Well, at least she tried not to. At moments like these Clara was greatly reminded of her old mentor, Jo’s uncle acted  _ exactly _ like her sometimes.

 

“I know you. And that-” she pointed to her face accusingly “is guilt that you are feeling.”

 

Jo remained silent, eyes glancing down to her hands.

 

“It’s healthy for you to meet new people, any therapist would tell you that.”

 

Jo’s face grimaced at the word ‘therapist’ which triggered another wave of giggles from Clara’s part. Jo’s face was still in a deep scrunch when she said:

 

“I don’t need no therapist to tell me what to do. And I’m doing just fine by myself.”

 

“You’re still grieving. That’s okay. It really is. But don’t let that stop you from moving on.”

 

Jo opened her mouth to protest when a smaller voice came from behind them, beating her to it:

 

“What you talking about?” Melody spoke rubbing at one of her eyes, the TV left talking to itself. She got closer and tugged at Clara’s blouse, who quickly pulled her into her lap.

 

“Hey Mels!”

 

“Hi Clara.” it was always cute the way Melody pronounced her name, with a still shaky (but strong, nevertheless) accent. It was slowly starting to sound like her mother’s.

 

“We were talking about your other mummy. The one in the pictures.” Jo brought up the subject delicately.

 

Melody made an “o” shape with her mouth in understandment, her attention quickly turned to the necklace around Clara’s neck. Jo really tried to talk about River normally, as casually as possible. But it always seemed to halt the conversation. It wasn’t a normal situation, people tried to reason with her. But still.

 

Melody had quickly learned that most people had two parents, not usually two moms at that; and she also knew one of her parents was dead. What usually turned things awkward was the realization that Melody simply did not know who River had been. No memories and thus no particular feelings towards her. Whenever Jo or Clara mentioned her, Melody had the same neutral expression. She definitely sensed it was a touchy subject and treated it carefully, but was still too neutral in regards to it. It remained distant for her.

 

And although she would never admit it, that was something that would always hurt Jo just a tiny bit inside.

 

“It’s totally fine. I even told her about River once or twice. It’s all good.” Clara started to slowly shake her head, disapproving the way Jo would always run away from talking about things. “And I should probably get going. Someone’s gotta confuse those little minds, ya know. They won’t discover the wonders of space by themselves.”

 

In her rush to get up and leave, Jo tripped on the chair and dropped her empty cup on the carpet. She picked it up visibly frustrated, Clara’s innocent laughter following her on the way out.

 

A few minutes later they heard the door lock and rushed goodbyes. Typical. Just as soon as the car pulled out of the driveway, Clara smirked and said:

 

“Mels, what do you think of having Ashildr on saturday to play with us, huh?”

 

//////

 

“-and dates are some of the weirdest stuff! Like, you’re supposed to dress up nice and hope the other person doesn’t think you’re too awkward, while at the same time you’re there panicking over everything you say. Who in the universe finds that fun?! I definitely don’t. Never did.”

 

Jo was nervously pacing around the house. (It certainly didn’t help that she was wearing no pants, only a colorful T-shirt and a mismatched pair of blue socks on). Rambling on everything and anything she could come up with, Jo was desperately trying to distract her mind and was failing miserably.

 

Her muffled blonde hair suddenly appeared on the doorstep, for what probably was the fifteenth time in the last few minutes. Clara and Ashildr were sat patiently on the double bed, a bag of popcorn strategically placed in the space between them. 

 

Last year, Ashildr had transferred from Finland to complete her master’s degree on nordic history. She had chosen to study their influences made on Britain and it also served as a great opportunity to better her english skills. Clara, who had been only one year away from majoring in linguistics, quickly took a liking to her. They became friends and started dating pretty soon after.

 

Jo watched from the door in silence as Ashildr reached for the popcorn and grabbed a handful. Five full seconds passed by (a record so far) when their friend finally took a deep breath, her words came rushing back:

 

“River always did the dating part. She planned everything and told me where we would be and what it was going to be like. With Yaz it’s all a lottery! I have no idea what is going on, or even  _ what _ she wants to be going on. Know what I mean?? How am I supposed to know what she is thinking of me? What if she gets bored? Or if I say something wrong? Anything could happen!”

 

The girls nodded at her, Ashildr still munching on the popcorn when Melody marched in the bedroom. She wore an oversized blue shirt with a drawing of Stitch on the front. Melody loved Stitch, which honestly was no surprise.

 

“Ugh. Why does this have to be so hard?? And I’m not even a person that gets nervous easily, as a matter of fact, I’m considered a very hard-to-scare kind of person. I never panic, I always know what to do.” she lifted her pointer finger up, like she was giving a lecture. “Oi! Stop giggling, you two. I’m trying to have a very serious talk here.” Melody who was listening closely to every word (even though she didn’t know the meanings) nodded in agreement. 

 

“As I was saying. There’s something about Yaz, like my brain just decided to turn off. I can’t think straight-”

 

“You sure can’t.” Ashildr whispered to Clara and they both started to laugh hard. Jo continued on her monologue on the way out of the bedroom, completely oblivious to the joke.

 

“-and I guess it has happened before, like that time I got lost on the cheese aisle at the supermarket. Or that day, when-” Melody hurriedly followed her mum to the living room.

 

They could still hear the faint mumbling in the background. Sighing and mouth full of popcorn, Ashildr turned to look at her girlfriend:

 

“Is she going to keep this up for the whole afternoon?”

 

“If we don’t do anything? Most likely.” Clara chuckled playfully, pulling herself out of the bed.

 

“Okay Jo! Get over here! Let’s get you in some clothes already.”

 

An incomprehensible mumble came in response as Clara reached for the drawers, pulling them all open. Jo walked in a second later, completely fixated on solving the rubik’s cube she had in her hands.

 

“No, no, no. Don’t start with this thing again.” Clara grabbed the cube from her friend’s grasp and threw it over the bed. 

 

“I was halfway done.” Jo frowned.

 

“I don’t care. Now, let’s see. Where are you two going again?”

 

“Downtown. She asked me if I had even been to go this crepe place and I love crepe so I said I’d love to go. Why? You think that was a bad choice?”

 

“No, of course not. Just so we know what clothes you should wear. Or you’d rather go out like this?”

 

They both glanced down to her bare legs, Jo shook her head shamefully. “That wouldn’t be ideal.”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Fine. What should I wear?”

 

Once again Melody was quick to join them. She walked over to Clara’s now empty spot next to Ashildr (or, as Melody called her, ‘Shilda’) and threw herself on the bed. Melody wriggled her toes inside the colorful socks and watched the two women as they went through the closet’s contents.

 

It took patience and a lot of Clara facepalming, but eventually they all agreed on a baggy rainbow sweater, black shorts and the purple converse sneakers. Jo was feeling comfortable and both Ashildr and Clara thought she looked nice for a date.

 

It was almost 5 o’clock now and Jo was quickly ushered outside by the two girls before she could chicken out. And as soon as the blue car had pulled out of the garage, Ashildr turned to look at Clara. Her face was a mixture of amusement and worry regarding their friend, Clara only shrugged in response.

 

It would be okay. In the end. Hopefully.

 

/////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaah the end is a little rushed. I really wanted to introduce Ashildr but at the same time I just want to get to the date already haha. So please bear with me, we're finally getting there!!  
> Oh and I'm adding a ton of parallels to the show, like I mentioned before. Hope those are fun to spot and think about (they really are for me haha)
> 
> Feel free to share any thoughts on this, the comments are always a great source of motivation.  
> That's all bye (✿◠‿◠)ﾉ


	4. Can't go wrong with chocolate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some alterations to chapter three. Ashildr's character isn't very well set in this yet, so I changed some stuff on the second part. I would recommend rereading it.  
> But you know, whatever, you do you!

It was a quarter past 5 and the restaurant was only now starting to fill up; couples and families constantly walking in. Although Yaz had arrived a bit earlier than necessary, she wasn’t feeling nervous for the date. Sure, butterflies on the stomach and all of that normal stuff. But the idea of seeing Jo was sending so much energy through her body. She was honestly excited to talk to her again, to get to know her better.

 

Looking through the restaurant’s glass walls, Yaz spotted an old blue car parking across the street. She laid her phone down on the clothed table and watched it, curiosity peaked. The model was definitely an old one, the painting had scrapes and smudges along the outside definitely showed the wear it had been through. It had a special charm to it too, in a way.

 

One of it’s doors opened and Yaz giggled softly to herself when she spotted Jo’s blonde hair.  _ Of course _ that would be her car.

 

She watched Jo crossing the street and a few seconds later when she finally entered the restaurant. The waiter at the door was just asking if she would need a table for one when her eyes landed on Yaz, who waved back silently.

 

“My friend already got a table, thanks!” she exclaimed happily and walked over to where Yaz was sat. She had a big grin on her face and her cheeks seemed to be turning slightly redder as she approached.

 

“Hi Yaz! You look lovely.”

 

“Hey, thank you. I loved your car.” Yaz pointed over to the blue car while Jo settled on the opposite chair. Her eyes immediately beamed at the comment, her smile growing impossibly brighter than before:

 

“Ah!!! That’s my old girl. A beautiful 1992 Lumina. I love that name by the way, Lumina… Anyways, she’s been with me since forever! Practically! Can’t really imagine my life without her.” Jo chuckled lightly. “You probably have a super modern police car, though.”

 

“Well, sort of. The cars are not ours, we only get to use them while on duty.”

 

“Do you ever turn the sirens on just to have fun or avoid transit??” Jo leaned forwards on the table, eyes filled with excitement.

 

“No, of course not!” Yaz began to laugh at Jo’s visible disappointment. How did she manage to act so cute all the damn time?

 

“So! What do you suggest ordering here? I mean, aside from it being a crepe. More like, what kind of crepe. I already know this is a crepe place because you told me and-... I seem to be rambling a lot today, sorry about that.” she smiled clumsily, cheeks turning a deeper shade of pink.

 

“It’s okay. I quite enjoy it, to be honest.” all words vanished from Yaz’s brain for half of a second. “But… er, I really like the sweet ones.” she reached for the colorful menu and pointed to the part where it said ‘desserts’.

 

“Ohhh, so many options!” Jo’s eyes scanned over the names in a way that Yaz could only describe as bubbly. She was always reacting to the simple things as if they were the discovery of the century and she had been lucky enough to be the first one to experience them. “Blueberry… humm, banana and cinnamon. Strawberry jam. Oh!! Hazelnut and chocolate! That one must be so gooood.”

 

“It’s my favorite one actually.”

 

“It’s settled then. Should I go order on the balcony?” she leaned her head a little to the side.

 

Yaz nodded “Yeah. You will receive a little paper and once it’s ready they’ll bring it over.”

 

As Jo went to order the food, Yaz took the time to properly look at her figure. She had a big and fluffy sweater that reached her mid-thigh, covering almost completely the shorts she had underneath. The large rainbow crossed her chest diagonally and continued on the back. The symbol being wore so casually and, at the same time, so proudly sent a wave of warmth to Yaz’s stomach.

 

Anyone with eyes could see Jo was a very beautiful woman. And, as much as Yaz would rather die than saying this outloud about anyone, she felt  _ very _ attracted to her.

 

“Our crepe will be ready in 20 minutes.”

 

Jo’s voice caught her mind mind from wandering any further than she would’ve liked. She sat down again, head turning around to watch some of the families eating together around them:

 

“This place is very nice. We should bring Melody next time.” Jo’s whole body froze for a moment, eyes widening. “I-I mean, if you want to come again. And-and if you’re okay with taking Melody with us sometimes. Which you obviously don’t have to feel obliged to do, she is my daughter but she can be a nightmare sometimes- not _all_ the time, of course. She is a lovely daughter, it’s just that sometimes a child can be very tiring and some people don’t-”

 

Jo stopped herself mid-sentence as her eyes returned to stare at Yaz, a nervous grin on her face. “Did it again. Sorry.”

 

“I would love to bring Melody with us.” For the first time in a long while, Yaz wanted to thank her own brain for thinking quickly and saying the right thing. On the other hand, her heart was still doing backflips on her chest at Jo’s words. Not only had she confirmed that she wanted to do this again but also had so naturally referred to them as ‘we’, instead of a ‘you and me’ or any other distant variable.

 

Jo relaxed, visibly flooded with relief:

 

“She really liked you by the way.”

 

Yaz giggled. “I’m glad. She is a very sweet girl.”

 

Jo smiled at her words, eyes looking down as her hands started to fidget with the sleeves of the big sweater. Yaz wondered for a moment if Jo had hyperactivity or if that was just one of her many quirks. Maybe both?

 

“Jo, can I ask… uhm, sorry. I don’t want to be rude… but, about Melody. Was she adopted or when you talked about your wife, uhm, did she…?”

 

Her expression quickly turned sympathetic at Yaz’s anxious state. Jo straightened her posture and leaned a little more on the table with one of her elbows, one hand still fidgeting with the fabric:

 

“Oh no, it’s okay really… As for the question, yes, Melody was adopted. But not in the traditional way… River was friends with her parents, I had only met them once or twice, sadly. There was an accident and Melody was only two months old at the time, there was no other family. River and I had to make the decision quickly, before she was sent to foster care. Had to go through the paperwork but thankfully it all worked out.”

 

“That’s… a lot to unpack. Sorry.”

 

“You did nothing wrong.” Jo frowned 

 

“No, uh, I mean… for asking so directly, you know?”

 

“Not at all, Yaz. It’s good to be curious. Actually, my whole career is based on curiosity, so one person you don’t need to apologize about that is me. I had my fair share of awkward and unnecessary questions though. Eh, some people are too fussy about it anyway. But definitely not me!”

 

For the first time since they had met (which, to be fair, hadn’t been too long ago) Yaz questioned if Jo was speaking the truth. Her personality was so intense and outgoing. When looking into her hazel eyes, Yaz could see a sparkle of both intellectual and emotional brightness, yes; but also a layered sadness, almost like a hidden misery that she carried with her and was trying to hide at all costs. Before Yaz could dwell on that thought for any longer, Jo changed the subject:

 

“Last time you told me you always knew you wanted to become a police officer. Is there any specific reason you wanted to do it?”

 

“Oh. There’s many, actually. It kind of started with my friend Ryan.” Jo quirked her head at the mention of a new name. “He was in my class and, when we were around 10, he started to grow a lot. He was getting really tall and everything related to coordination was becoming extremely challenging for him. Later we found out he has dyspraxia but, at that time, he was just very  _ very _ clumsy. Some kids started bullying him, like pushing him around in the corridor and making fun of him during gym class. I gathered the courage and one day I punched two of those guys in the gut.”

 

Jo’s jaw fell, giving space to a large and entertained grin to form. Yaz chuckled at her reaction before continuing:

 

“Yeah, got sent to the principal for that one. But was worth it, they stopped messing with him after that. At least in middle school, you know how these things are. And Ryan has always been too much of a softie to do anything, so he started leaning on me. And I loved that feeling, not of actually punching people, but of helping someone, making them feel safe.”

 

“Oh wow. That’s amazing, Yaz.”

 

“Then I got a little older, Ryan was starting to improve a lot too, but some bullies started picking on me because of my family.”

 

Jo’s eyebrows knitted together in curiosity. “What do you mean?”

 

“My gran is from Pakistan. We’re muslim, that’s why I have the clothes underneath all the time too.” Yaz pointed to herself: she was wearing a light pink dress and leggings, her shoulder blades and arms were covered by a long sleeved shirt she had under the dress. Jo nodded a few times. Nothing much for a reaction, and for that Yaz felt immensely grateful.

 

“Wearing scarves or a hijab was never part of my family traditions. My gran is actually the only one that goes to the mosque weekly. But it’s still my culture, you won’t ever see me eat pork or drink alcohol, for example.” Jo nodded again. “So I believe that has had a big influence on me as well. I never wanted to feel scared or weak because of who I am, and on top of that I manage to help others like me.”

 

“I imagine it must be really tough to be on the force, being muslim. You fast for a whole month, right?” it was Yaz’s turn to nod. ”Must need a lot of strength and willpower to balance it out. I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

 

“I take the morning shifts during that time, it’s when we have the most energy. As for being able to do it, it all comes to habit in the end.” she shrugged.

 

“Oh no, no. I’m sure it takes a lot more than only that!” Jo shook her head.

 

She smiled shyly before asking:

 

“Are you religious, Jo?”

 

She scrunched her nose a tiny bit (Yaz found it adorable every single time she did it) “Not me, no… Never tried any before though, just not really my thing, I guess.”

 

“Is it because you live in the world of science, physics and all of that?”

 

“I’m not sure. Probably not… they seem like two very different study planes in my head. I also definitely don’t think one should oppose the other, at all. Depending on how you look at it, science and religion are often walking side by side. Complimenting each other, if you will.” Jo started gesturing her hands, like giving a lecture. “For example. Astronomy and constellations in Ancient Greece originated from their gods, in a way. They gave them names and stories based on their beliefs, and we are still using that information  _ today _ . So I can’t really understand when people insist they should be antonyms.”

 

Before Yaz could even start panicking on how to follow up such an inspiring answer, the irresistible smell of chocolate engulfed them. Walking over to their table was a young waiter with their tray. 

 

“Excuse me, ladies. Here you go.” he laid the big plate down with two sets of forks, knives and spoons for them to share. Jo had her eyes glued to the giant crepe, filled with hazelnut cream inside and drops of hot chocolate fudge on top. On the side there were two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

 

“Oh… You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” Jo’s face was in total dumbstruck as she spoke to the crepe. Yaz began to laugh at how serious she had sounded over such a silly little thing, her eyes literally shining at the sight.

 

“What are you waiting for? Just dig in.” Yaz said as her giggles were slowly subduing.

 

And that’s exactly what they did.

 

/////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thanks very much for all the kudos and comments!!! They motivate me a lot to keep the story going and also to try and improve my writing. And it just means a lot to me <3
> 
> Next chapter will pick up directly from this part of the date. Initially, I wanted it all in only one piece but it was getting a little to long. But don't worry! We'll see more of them very, very soon.  
> (by the way, is it too obvious that I'm basically describing my dream ideas for dates? at all the pretty girls: please take me to have sweets and desserts, I'm not hard to please)
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, take care (✿◠‿◠)ﾉ


	5. Sweet time and space

The conversation was flowing fairly smoothly between the two women. Jo was explaining some details about her job: what she taught, what her students were like, the master’s degrees she supervised, etc.

 

Yaz watched as she lifted a spoon overflowing with fudge and ice cream to her mouth and couldn’t help the giggles that escaped at the sight of Jo’s now smudged cheek. Without giving a second thought, Yaz grabbed a napkin and reached for Jo’s face, free hand lightly holding her chin in place. Yaz regretted the lack of restraint as soon as she realized what she was doing.

 

She froze and opened her mouth, millions of apologies running through her mind, but none of them managing to make their way out of her mouth. Yaz lowered her arm and nervously pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

 

Deciding to brush past what had happened instead, she cleared her throat:

 

“So, uh… How hard is it to be a professor and having to raise a kid by yourself?”

 

Jo seemed a little puzzled at the sudden change in behavior but her eyes sparkled anyway at the chance of talking some more.

 

“It’s not exactly by myself actually. I have a friend who takes care of Mels when I give lectures on late afternoons, or at night. Clara… Very kind girl, met her at the university. In fact, she’s with Melody right at this moment. You know, so I could come here with you.”

 

“Oh, that’s good. One of your students?”

 

“No, no, no. She hates physics.” Jo chuckled lightly, spoon scraping the chocolate from the side of the plate. “Clara is almost done with her English major. Loves children, that one. Even wants to work with middle schoolers. So yeah! She is fantastic with Melody, teaches her all sorts of stuff. And has incredible patience… with both of us.”

 

Yaz smiled warmly at Jo’s flustered behavior. “I see. But I meant more in the sense of raising her. Can’t be easy to juggle the two.”

 

“In that sense, no, it certainly isn’t… Kids need a lot of attention. And I mean  _ a lot _ . So I can’t just stay at work all day long. Not that I want to, I love spending time with my daughter, but sometimes I’m required to.”

 

“Yeah, same here. Do you ever wish you didn’t have to work so much?”

 

“Hummm… that’s a hard question.” Jo frowned, deep in thought “I wish I had a more organized schedule. Between work and personal life, I feel I balance them out very poorly. Usually I just go with the flow and wait to see what happens. Melody is like that too, so maybe it’s okay? I’m really not sure.”

 

Yaz nodded. “I wish my job wouldn’t be so exhausting. Not physically, but mentally. We have to deal with a lot daily, but we don’t get much time to properly go over what happens. Not much time off either. Still love it, though.” she finished with a guilty grin.

 

“That’s what’s important.” Jo pointed the spoon at her face. “You know you made the right choice not when everything’s perfect, that’s rubbish. But when you find you are satisfied with what you do.”

 

“Oh…” Yaz paused for a moment at the profound advice. “Didn’t expect you to be the wise type.”

 

Jo licked the remaining ice cream from the spoon and smiled brightly. She mockingly adjusted her sweater as if it was a formal blazer, flipping some hair strands from her face. “I have my moments.”

 

“And does that apply to yourself?”

 

“Wut?” Jo mumbled, bent over the table and spoon back on her mouth, filled to the brim with crepe. Yaz resisted the urge to laugh at the contrast of mere seconds ago.

 

“Are you happy at the point you are? At the university and stuff.”

 

“Oh yeah. Definitely!” Jo lifted her shoulders up showing her excitement. “It was hard when I started out, not gonna lie. I had just moved to a new city, only had experience teaching high schoolers… I didn’t know what I was doing, to be honest. But I absolutely  _ love _ it now. Oh! And then I got my own classroom! With my own desk and everything! That was a turning point in my life.” she nodded to herself.

 

Considering all Yaz had seen from Jo so far in their short encounters, she could only imagine her classroom would be far from the conventional type. Images of brightly painted walls and dozens of plastic stars hanging from the ceiling flooded her brain, for some reason. 

 

“Ok, but… What is it that you actually teach?” Jo opened her mouth to answer when Yaz hurriedly added in: “And use simple words please. I was useless at physics in high school.”

 

“Basically, I study energy and how time supposedly affects it.” Jo gestured with her hands to emphasize her words. “When you observe things outside of Earth, those concepts don’t apply the way we expect them to. Energy and time are fluid things to the universe as a whole. For example, a star can generate and, at the same time, consume such high amounts of energy that it becomes impossible for us to measure it. But that doesn’t mean it’s an infinite or non-existent measurement. And using the same thought process, time can’t be a straight line as we believe it to be. It’s more like a big ball.” she formed a sphere with her hands, fingers intertwining slowly. “If you measure time by the moment a star is born, that time becomes meaningless compared to the other celestial bodies that will eventually use that star’s energy once it ‘dies’. And from that star’s point of view, everything on Earth is happening at the same time. All of our existence in a single moment. Time is real, for humans yeah. For everything else? Debatable.”

 

Yaz’s brain was dangerously close to frying, stunned at the overload of information. Jo was totally unphased by the speech she had just given, attention alternating back to the crepe she continued to munch on. Yaz quickly realized that, for her, this probably categorized as actual simple and ordinary conversation.

 

“This correlation of time and dimensional energy is what my doctorate was about. I don’t get to teach this to my students, sadly, only when they choose to follow a similar specialization to mine. Or when they come with curious questions, which they usually do. They are great at coming to me with questions, it’s pretty fantastic.”

 

Jo paused to see Yaz’s reaction, who had her gaze fixed on the table cloth. “Wait, are you not blinking?” Jo waved her spoon in front of Yaz’s face, pulling her out of the trance she had been stuck on.

 

“Sorry if I got too carried away. Might’ve lost you in the middle there.”

 

“No, no. It’s just… Wow. You’re really passionate about all that. It’s amazing to listen to you talk about it. Even if I don’t get everything.”

 

“What, you really mean that?”

 

“Of course.” Yaz chuckled. “Why does it come off as a surprise?”

 

Jo shrugged, looking down to her plate. They were halfway done with the pastry now.

 

“Part of the staff and some other professors don’t like me much. They say I’m too bouncy and too loud… I tire them quickly, I believe. But what matters in the end are the students. That’s what I tell myself… Even if I don’t have that many, few people are interested by my field of study.”

 

“What got you into studying astrophysics, Jo?”

 

“First of all, it’s an immense field of study and we have barely scratched the surface of it! It’s constants discoveries that we try to keep track of. I can’t resist something like that.” Jo furrowed her brow. “I love it because no one knows for sure what’s out there, we just keep looking and discussing our theories. Nothing is definite, nothing makes complete sense. And technically nobody is wrong when they share what they believe. The universe is so big that everything must turn out to be true  _ somewhere _ .”

 

“So you chose it for being so challenging?”

 

Jo lifted the spoon to her mouth but froze halfway to answer:

 

“Kind of. Never thought of it like that, but I guess you could be right. Love a challenge, me. And you do too!” Yaz stared at her, puzzled. “Punching those bullies that were twice your size was a big challenge. And then you chose to make that your profession.” she grinned, happy with her argument, spoon finishing its way to her mouth.

 

Yaz was beginning to enjoy Jo’s quick thinking. It certainly fit her personality well as her brain always seemed to be a mile ahead of everything else.

 

The sound of her phone buzzing a few times caught their attention. Jo picked it from her pocket and opened the messages tab. A sweet (heart melting) smile formed on her face:

 

“It’s from Clara.” she turned the phone around so Yaz could see the screen. There were two pictures taken at what was presumably her home: both of Melody sprawled on the sofa hugging colorful covers, a small plushie of Stitch laying on top of her.

 

“She’s adorable.”

 

“Sometimes, yeah.” Jo chuckled. The comment did nothing to conceal the fact she thought so too.

 

“I have a lot to thank Clara, you know. She helps me out a ton, not just looking after Mels but she is also keeping track of her improvement. I’m not home enough to do that, like I said. And always sending me pictures as well, my life would be a lot messier without her putting me back on track.”

 

“What do you mean with improvement?” Yaz filled her own spoon with crepe and ice cream.

 

“Melody is showing some signs of learning difficulties. We don’t know yet what’s wrong but she is not keeping up at school.”

 

“Oh… I thought pre-school was just games and naps.”

 

“It is, sure. But they also teach names of animals, basic math, the alphabet, that kind of stuff. And Melody doesn’t seem to be following. Her teacher has called me twice already. He said Melody isn’t paying attention to classes and only learns what interests her.” Jo sighed, eyes glancing down almost tiredly. “She is smart and creative, that’s pretty obvious. But anything unrelated to space seems to bore her… I don’t want her to stop daydreaming and making up stories, I was the one that started it to be honest. But she needs to make an effort at school.”

 

“Yeah, for sure. How long has she been going to school? Maybe she’s still adjusting.”

 

“Nine months now.” she shook her head. “I don’t know… She likes there, and if there were any problems with the other kids the teacher would’ve talked to me about it.”

 

A few more bites and questions and the crepe was soon finished. They decided to split the bill without giving too much thought.

 

“Do you want me to drive you home?” Jo asked as they were walking out of the restaurant. Yaz glanced at the old blue Lumina parked across the street.

 

“Would you mind? The next bus is still going to take 20 more minutes.”

 

“Of course not. C’mon!!”

 

She pushed one of the buttons on her keys and the headlights flashed twice. Jo raced ahead of her and opened the front door, Yaz giggled at the chivalrous act and thanked her.

 

Once seatten and given a chance to look around, the car looked even more eccentric from the inside: the gears had colorful stickers and one big rainbow piece hung from the rearview mirror. Yaz wondered if it was a freshner of some kind or if it was just something that made her happy. Dozens of toys were scattered around on the backseat and on the car’s floor. A high chair (space-themed, of course) was attached to the seatbelt in the middle.

 

Jo made her way around and opened the door to get in the driver’s seat. They both pulled their seatbelts as Yaz explained how to get to her gran’s house.

 

“So, do you live with her?” Jo asked looking forwards and starting the car. Yaz noticed there were about half a dozen of key-chains attached to it that she had not noticed before.

 

“Not really, I have my own flat. But I like visiting her, we always have tea together.” 

 

“Aw, that’s nice!”

 

About 15 minutes later of nice music and light conversation they parked in the front yard, Jo offered to walk her to the door. Yaz spoke up as they crossed the small steps towards the small house:

 

“Thanks for coming. I had a lot of fun today with you.”

 

“Me too!” Jo was fidgeting with her hands, visibly unsure of what to do with them. “And all the other times. Well, it were only two and Mels was with us… also we met by accident so not dates, technically. Well! That is if you are considering today a date, which I am. But maybe it’s not necessarily what you feel, I mean, I hope you do but it’s-”

 

Yaz slowly sneaked her hand around her waist, her words gradually decreasing in volume and speed as Yaz turned to face her. Once she had finally gone silent, Yaz pushed her body closer to her, but still allowing plenty of time for Jo to squirm away or move back.

 

Nothing of that sort came and Yaz took advantage of her sudden surge of courage and laid the extent of her arm around Jo’s waist, holding tightly with the other. She smirked a millisecond before getting on her tiptoes and placing her lips on Jo’s, the last thing she saw were bright pink cheeks before closing her eyes.

 

It took a moment of adjustment but then Jo opened her mouth slightly and all coherent thought was thrown out the window. The kiss was delicate and sweet, hints of chocolate and vanilla were coming through both of their breaths. Jo laid one of her hands on Yaz’s shoulder, growing more familiar with the touch.

 

Yaz lightly pushed away, leaving one last small peck behind before stepping back. She smirked with a sense of pride at Jo’s complete flushed face.

 

“Bye Jo. Thanks for the lift.” She unlocked the door with her spare key and stepped through, stomach fluttering and heart beating fast.

 

She saw Jo lifting her fingers to touch her lips, still entranced and probably surprised at what had happened. Yaz hoped they were buzzing and still tingly from the kiss, as were her own.

 

/////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uff..... took me a while but I'm quite happy with how this turned out! Also, can we please collectively thank Yaz for being so brave? I wondered if I should delay the first kiss but this moment felt very right!
> 
> Now for the disclaimer bit: sorry if I misused terms/concepts relating to Islam or physics.  
> I had some good chats with my physics teachers, but Jo's words all come from my mind and my own point of view.  
> I have a few muslim friends but I'm not muslim myself, so please tell me if I misinterpreted something.
> 
> And as always, thanks for reading! Feel free to drop a comment, just make sure to be polite about whatever you want to say. By the way, I have no idea when I'll be posting the next chapter, but I had a ton of ideas and I'm really excited for what's to come between these two dorks....  
> That's all bye (✿◠‿◠)ﾉ


	6. Travel to the stars

The bell sounded loudly above them as all the kids raced their way to the playground. Just like every friday, today was what the school referred to as “play day”, where each child was allowed to bring one toy to play during their extended recess time. Some kids came dressed up in costumes, the more quiet ones usually sat on the corner with their legos and dolls, the occasional teddy bear making an appearance.

 

Melody had spent a good 15 minutes with her mum before school, deciding which one to bring along. She settled on her favorite: a blue and purple rocket ship that had Nasa’s logo on the bottom. It wasn’t very big and the paint at some corners was starting to peel off. And Melody absolutely loved it.

 

Moving her arms up and down, pretending the ship was soaring through space, Melody followed the others to the playground.

 

“Why you bring that ev’ry week, Mels?” a boy asked from the swing when she arrived, a yellow nerf gun on his lap.

 

She started to spin, holding the toy above her head and imagining all the planets and stars it was hovering above:

 

“Because I’m gonna travel in it, like my mum!”

 

The boy sniffed his nose loudly and continued to swing, having quickly lost interest on her blabberings. 

 

“Your mum doesn’t  _ really _ have a spaceship.” Sophie appeared from behind them. She lifted up the iron man mask and put it to rest on the top of her head, arms crossing over the superhero costume.

 

“She does because she travels every day on it!” Melody continued her happy spinning, paying no mind to Sophie’s disapproving stare. “One time, mummy visited a planet that no one could go outside because it was super hot and everything was covered in diamonds, and then-”

 

“She didn’t  _ really _ go to space.” Sophie interrupted, making Melody stop moving and look at her friend, brow furrowing angrily.

 

“She did, many many times!!”

 

“No, she  _ didn’t _ . You’re  _ lying _ .” The way Sophie dragged the ‘ng’ sound mockingly got Melody more frustrated.

 

“Yes she did!!!” she flapped her arms, hand gripping tighter and tighter around the rocket ship. Mr Danvers soon noticed what was happening and approached hurriedly to stop the argument before it escalated any further:

 

“Girls, girls. What’s going on here?” he crouched down to their height, head alternating to look at the two red faced children.

 

“Melody is a liar and doesn’t stop lying!”

 

“No, no, no! I’m not!!”

 

Sophie ignored her and spoke directly to their teacher, foot stomping down:

 

“She says her mum goes to space and it’s not true!”

 

Angry tears were now rolling down Melody’s cheeks with no signs of stopping, she finally lost patience and shouted back:

 

“She does!! It’s how she visits my other mummy ‘cause she can’t come back from space!!”

 

Mr Danvers’ eyes widened at the unexpected response and, at the split second he stood frozen in surprise, he failed to stop Melody from running and punching Sophie in the chest. Both girls started crying loudly.

 

/////

 

“-for next week, I want you to write about how redshift affects galaxies’ orbits based on George Lemaitre’s studies and the way their gravitational fields are altered.” Jo sat on the edge of her table, watching as some students continued to scribble down notes on their messy notebooks.

 

“As for extra credit, I want a written explanation on why Han Solo’s and Chewbacca’s cells would grow older every second they traveled in light’s speed. And what kind of shields the Millenium Falcon would need so it wouldn’t disintegrate in hyperspace.”

 

They all began to put away their supplies, one girl in special was struggling to fit all the heavy textbooks inside her backpack. Jo smiled sympathetically, cheeks lifting up a tiny bit.

 

“Oh and don’t forget to use colored pencils or some fun stickers! Please. Those plain blue pens are too boring to look at.”

 

“Have a nice weekend, professor!”

 

“You too, Ace.” Jo smiled and waved as her students made their way out of her classroom, majority headed home as the sun was starting to set on the background.

 

She finished wiping the blackboard and turned the projector off, disconnecting it from her notebook. Jo opened her email box and, after seeing there were no new messages for her, she finally checked her phone. One click on the ‘missed calls’ tab and Mr Danvers’ name popped up on the screen.

 

“Oh no.” Jo rubbed her forehead and eyes nervously before clicking the dial button.

 

It picked up on the third ring:

 

“Hello, this is doctor Joanne.”

 

“Hi, doctor, thank you for calling me back. There has been an… incident with your daughter today, during our play day.”

 

Jo cringed a little on her end of the line at his word choice.

 

“Did she throw the rocket from the third floor window again?”

 

“No, it’s not that. I would rather talk with you personally about it, actually. Would you mind arriving a little early to pick her up?”

 

Her eyes slightly widened in surprise.

 

“No, it’s fine, of course. I’ll be there in a mo’.”

 

“Alright, thank you. See you then.”

 

Jo laid her phone on the table with a sigh and started gathering her own stuff. As usual, mind racing uncontrollably ahead of everything else. In fact, the whole trip to the school consisted of overthinking each possible and impossible way Melody must have gotten in trouble.

 

As she was debating the probability of Mels having discovered actual aliens in the school’s playground, Jo reached the parking lot and turned the engine off.

 

The school secretary greeted her when she stepped in. Jo waved cordially and proceeded to zip her pink hoodie down, tying it around her waist.

 

“Mister Danvers said you could head to his classroom.” Jo nodded and thanked her, making her way down the corridor. Walking slower than she normally would, she took a moment to see the walls, all completely covered in the children’s paintings and works.

 

“Ah, you’re here. Hi, doctor Joanne, thank you for coming.” Mr Danvers called her to come inside, she immediately noticed Melody’s small figure sat on the floor, rocket forgotten by her side.

 

And despite all of the worrying that took place during the drive to the school, Jo only now acknowledged there was something incredibly wrong when her daughter didn’t even lift her head up when she came in the room. Jo sat on the pulled up chair in front of the teacher’s desk. Mr Danvers cleared his throat and she turned her direction to him.

 

“There was an argument with another one of our kids today. Do you want to tell yourself what happened, Melody?”

 

The little girl (looking incredibly smaller somehow) shook her head slowly, eyes still glued to the floor. Jo reached her hand and began to ruffle her hair encouragingly.

 

“Sophie called her a liar during recess and they argued for a little. Melody then pushed her.”

 

Jo’s hand froze on her daughter’s hair and she slowly pulled it back to her lap. Mr Danvers rubbed his eyes tiredly before continuing, clearly sad for having to discuss this:

 

“Melody said something before pushing Sophie, which is what got me especially worried. Look, doctor, we talked a little about your family’s circumstance, and I understand it is extremely hard to even try to explain it to her. I honestly do. But her mind is very confused right now.”

 

Jo nodded and glanced down to her side, where Melody was silently sat. “What did you say to Sophie, Melody?”

 

“It’s better if you try to explain it with your words, Melody.” said the teacher. A few seconds passed by and her daughter shouted, still not daring to look at her. Even as bad as Jo was at reading people, she recognized it to be shame on her daughter’s behavior.

 

“I didn’t lie, mummy! I didn’t!”

 

“Tell me what you said.” Jo’s tone was colder this time.

 

“She said you don’t really go to space and I know you do! And she was being mean! I said you go to see my other mummy.” wet hot tears were running down her cheeks again.

 

Jo sighed in understanding, seeing the gravity of the situation and why Mr Danvers had insisted they had this talk together. She kneeled down on the colorful play mat, pushing the chair aside. Of course her selfish actions would eventually come back to haunt her.

 

“I need you to pay attention to what I’m going to say. Look at me.” Jo placed her hand on Melody’s chin and resisted the powerful urge to comfort her. When their eyes met, she spoke clearly and slowly. “It was very wrong to do that to Sophie.”

 

“But she was mean!!” Melody shouted, frustrated tears spilling down her face.

 

“I know, but it doesn’t matter. You were wrong to push her and it can’t happen again. Alright?”

 

She waited for Melody to nod in agreement before continuing:

 

“Under no circumstance it’s right to hurt people. No matter how wrong they are. You don’t have the right to do that.”

 

Jo glanced back at Mr.. Danvers, slightly panicked on how to proceed, scared of what she had to say next. He simply nodded, coaxing her to continue, affirming she was doing well. Jo took a deep breath, legs crossing and body getting closer to her daughter.

 

“Melody, this is very important now, listen to me: I don’t see your mummy River in space anymore and we won’t see her again.” she let the words go like ripping a band-aid. Noticing sadly that this pep-talk also applied to herself.

 

“Why?!?”

 

“Because she can’t. She can’t come back.” Jo swallowed a hollow sob, voice very close to breaking. But she pushed herself to the limit and remained strong, posture straight.

 

“She is living in the stars like I told you, but can’t and won’t be coming back. There’s nothing we can do about it.” her hand brushed Melody’s skin, thumb wiping over the unstopping flow of tears. “But listen. Mummy River would come all the way to Earth everyday just to be with you, if she could.”

 

Her eyes widened and she sniffed, dark brown eyes showing a hint of hope. “She would come from the stars?? Every day?”

 

Jo nodded, smiling weakly:

 

“She would. It’s the one thing I’m sure of… She loves you, baby, just like I do.” Melody sniffed again and threw herself at Jo’s torso, hugging tightly like her life depended on it.

 

Jo took the chance and wiped some tears away from her own eyes with the back of her hand, avoiding Mr Danvers gaze at all costs. She began to feel her shirt getting progressively drenched from Melody’s tears and hugged her closer, pulling her in tightly.

 

“It’s okay, baby.” she rested her chin on top of Melody’s head “I’m here with you. I’m not leaving.”

 

Jo tried not to think of how many people had done exactly that to her daughter.

 

A few minutes passed in silence until Jo sent Melody to pack her stuff and wait outside. She wanted the opportunity to finish the talk with Mr Danvers. He went first:

 

“You handled that incredibly well, doctor Joanne. And you can call me if you ever need help with Melody, I know the situation is very delicate. But you are doing a good job.”

 

“I’m trying.” She grinned uncomfortably.

 

“But I need you to know that we are worried. Melody is a very sweet girl, very kind and energetic. But she is too young to understand all these people around her that passed away.”

 

Jo nodded and tried to move on with the subject.

 

“She is still not properly paying attention to class?”

 

He shook his head. “We think her mind is too busy trying to understand things going on around her. It’s completely normal for kids at her age to daydream a lot and not listen to teachers. But it’s different with her. She just acts detached sometimes. Towards us, other kids, the teachings. Like she is not very present.”

 

“You know… I can tell you so much about planets, space and gravity.” Jo glanced outside, where Melody was patiently waiting, rocket in hand. “But when it comes to humans, I feel so  _ lost _ . Our minds are too complicated, just can’t make any sense of it. And no one is able to tell me what is better or worse, what I should or shouldn’t do since she is  _ my _ daughter. At least in my job I can look up information on a galaxy or google mathematical formulae. With Melody it’s all a lottery.”

 

Mr Danvers giggled at her blatant honesty.

 

“And I wish more parents would just accept that fact, doctor.”

 

/////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeey... got a few things to say this time~~
> 
> I thought a lot about it and even though Melody is an OC, I'm really enjoying developing her character and her relationship with Jo. (I have a very weak spot concerning the Doctor and children, so bear with me)  
> That's why this chapter was so Melody-centric and more chapters in the future might be too. The main focus is still on Jo and Yaz's relationship, but I wanted the notion that Yaz is coming in the middle of something else, something already in-progress. And what Jo consequently feels with all of it.
> 
> Still on the topic of Melody, I try my best to have her sound childish and make normal language mistakes, but not sure how that is translating into text. Hopefully it's not too bad =D
> 
> Now, you might have seen this around tumblr, but these awesome people are organizing a Thirteenth Doctor fanzine and I'm gonna be a part of it!! There are some great fanfic writers and artists there (I am working on a painting for it) so go check them out: thirteenfanzine.tumblr.com/post/184158354669/contributors-announcement
> 
> That's all, no idea when I'll update again ok bye (✿◠‿◠)ﾉ


	7. And it was (almost) perfect

Yaz intently watched as Jo's hands reached for the ketchup packets, pushing them around the table:

 

"-therefore, if we consider time a _succession_ of events, these individual moments can't overrun each other. That would go against their definition.” she placed two red packets close to each other, her torso was hunched over the table, body completely buzzing with energy as her hands gave emphasis to the explanation.

 

“These instants are separate from each other, singular moments. So the question really is: how do we go from one to another? There is no intersection between respective measurements of time. What happens between a second and the next? What gets us from one year to the next?” Jo studied her reaction and slowly pushed the red packets apart, placing a yellow one right in the middle. “Unless there is something else we are not seeing.”

 

Yaz wanted to nod, to show she understood the scientific/philosophical explanation. If she were being honest, there was also a hidden part of herself that wanted to comeback with a genius question just to impress Jo. All the while, the real part of her brain decided to simply freeze and show no reaction at all. It was still eagerly trying to keep up with Jo’s words.

 

She finally frowned after a few moments:

 

“No, but… I don’t understand. How could something exist in the middle of time? It’s not… made of anything. Is it? To have something in the middle?” Her eyes flickered to Jo’s, brow tense and mouth half open in confusion.

 

"Technically, no, it isn't. Time is a human measurement, but the passage of it is very much real! The problem is  _ how _ that passage happens."

 

She waited, hands excitedly fidgeting with the packets, moving them and putting them back into place. Yaz nodded for her to continue.

 

"Now, if the definition of time is a singular and supposedly linear succession of events- not really, but for the sake of simplicity we'll say it is- we can assume 'space' is a collection of events."

 

Her hands reached for the napkins and unfolded one, placing it under the three packages already on the table.

 

"See how space can't be a singular point? It contains the others, like mathematical sets that hold numbers, instead it holds things!"

 

"So does that mean time is also contained in space?"

 

Jo jumped on her seat so unexpectedly that for a second Yaz worried she was going to stand on the table.

 

“Well! That’s just the question!” her grin widened and she shrugged. “See? That's what we physics is all about. People think it's hard words no one understands when, in reality, we are all just a bunch of nerds arguing about theories and screaming at each other.”

 

She watched in silence as Jo lifted up her cup and took a sip of the fizzy drink, her hazel eyes roaming curiously around the diner booth they were sat at. That excited look in her eyes reminded Yaz of a cat, one step away from pushing objects from the edge of a table.

 

It was a nice saturday, the other couples and families added to the comforting background noise, along with the music softly playing in the speakers.

 

Yaz glanced at Jo who sat right by her side: she wore cuffed jeans shorts and a tucked in long sleeved shirt. It displayed an intricate drawing of a cat dressed like Sherlock Holmes, which certainly Jo had found hilarious. And Yaz had chosen her favorite leather jacket, over a baby blue shirt and skinny jeans.

 

A few moments passed between them, until Jo nudged her elbow, eyebrows lowered with worry:

 

“You ok there?”

 

Yaz managed to nod her head slowly, eyes focused on Jo’s hands that were back to fidgeting, as usual. A sudden feeling of defeat washed over Yaz and she sighed, giving up on her task of trying to impress Jo.

 

“Not really, no.”

 

“Oh that’s ok, don't worry about it!” Jo returned the small packages to the colorful holder and smiled warmly at her. Then suddenly that weird sense of calmness she only felt around Jo came back, she smiled shyly, grateful for her words.

 

“And… this is what your doctorate was about?” Yaz sipped her own drink.

 

“Oh no, no. That was just the introduction.”

 

Yaz’s eyes widened and she returned to stare blankly at the table.

 

"Oh  _ god _ ."

 

Jo chuckled innocently. “Hey, hey.” she placed her hand under Yaz's chin, coaxing her to turn to look at her. "It's okay." another soft chuckle followed suit. "And to be fair, it's something obnoxiously boring to read, I can't understand why scientific papers have to be so dull. It's a lot more fun to just talk and discuss that stuff."

 

Yaz smiled at the kind reassurance. She doubted other physics could be nearly as entertaining and fun to listen to as Jo was, but she choose to keep silent.

 

Any further divagations were shut off by the young waiter, who quickly approached their booth to set their orders on the table. Jo eyed the cheeseburger in front of her with glowing eyes, it was extra large with a double portion of chips on the side. Yaz reached for her (much more reasonable sized) chicken wrap.

 

She saw Jo analyzing the cheeseburger, probably theorizing on which angle she could achieve the best first bite. They kept silence in the first moments, occasionally giggling at each other. But mostly Yaz giggling at Jo and her enormous lunch.

 

Taking advantage of the moment, Yaz reached over with her body, stealing some chips from Jo's plate and immediately popping one into her mouth.

 

"Oi!" Jo turned to face her, nose scrunched and a half-hidden grin. "You have your own food!"

 

"Yeah, I know that." She smiled cheekily and leaned over, leaning on her shoulder and leaving a sweet kiss in Jo's cheek.

 

And, just as expected, Jo's cheeks turned to a bright shade of pink. For a moment she froze, dumbfounded. Yaz smiled, proud of her own achievement, even though making Jo blush was far from being a hard feat.

 

They continued to eat until Yaz decided to ask, very unexpectedly:

 

"Were you doing okay yesterday? I ranged you after my shift but you didn't pick up."

 

Confusion filled Jo's features very subtly for half a second, her eyes then quickly widened with realization.

 

“Oh, that. Hum… I had an extra class, had to cover for a friend. Sorry for not calling back.”

 

And although the words were accompanied by Jo's signature grin, Yaz noticed a touch of nervousness and detachment in her tone. Yaz wondered how authentic that grin usually was and possibly if, at this point, it was just an involuntary reaction to hide her emotions.

 

"And… how is Melody doing?"

 

"She's… hum, Melody's doing great. Probably watching Lilo and Stitch at the moment. I think I know all the scenes by heart, she watches it so much!" Jo turned to her lunch, avoiding her gaze, hands fidgeting a bit.

 

Yaz couldn't tell if it was really  _ that _ easy to see through Jo's behaviour or if she was just bad at social cues. From what she had learned so far, there was a high chance that it was actually a mixture of both.

 

With all honesty, there was absolutely no problem with Jo choosing to keep some problems to herself, especially those related to her daughter. Yaz herself didn't want to spill everything that had ever happened to her. But by Jo's unusual reaction, she imagined something must have happened relating to Melody.

 

Once they were finished and the bill had been split, Jo turned to Yaz and smiled warmly:

 

“You need a ride?” 

 

For a second, Yaz almost said no, simply out of courtesy. But a ride meant more time with Jo, which she didn’t think she would ever get tired of.

 

“Sure,” she said, and watched as Jo’s face lighted up immediately.

 

“Oh, brilliant!”

 

Her flat was only a few minutes from the diner, and, as always, the old Lumina was messy and overflowing with toys. Yaz noticed a new star sticker as she climbed in.

 

Soon enough they were parked in front of her flat. Yaz hesitated momentarily before opening the car door and stepping out. She thought of their first kiss, when Yaz had felt so very sure of what she should do and then to the shy peck they shared when meeting at the diner. Now, Yaz was overthinking her options with the crushing sensation of time running out. One glance at Jo and she looked as awkward as ever. She opened her mouth, either to say goodbye or to go off in an endless ramble.

 

They both wanted something, that was for sure. But the pressure of doing it perfectly, at the perfect opportunity made everything  _ so _ frustrating.

 

But… life is short.

 

Making up her mind, Yaz leaned in with her body, closed her eyes and prayed that Jo would facilitate things. Nervous hands held her hips tightly as her own came to rest around Jo's neck, locking their bodies together. Yaz had to resist the urge to sigh when their lips met.

 

She realized how badly she had missed this specific feeling; of being safe and protected by Jo, and the soft fell of lips against her own. Jo pulled away, just barely, and touched their foreheads together, smiling at the lingering feel of the kiss, an almost there laugh on her lips.

 

Jo's back met the car door and she pulled Yaz with her. Their noses brushed as lightly as possible and Jo's right hand cupped her cheek in anticipation for a second kiss.

 

When an unnecessarily loud voice came from behind them, causing both women to jump apart:

 

"SO THIS MUST BE JO!!"

 

Hearing her name so unexpectedly, Jo tried to move away from Yaz's body, which showed to be a poorly made decision. Her elbows hit the car window with a loud  _ thump _ and she yelped loudly in surprise. Yaz turned around in a rush only to be met with a grinning face. Of course. Who else could it possibly be?

 

"Holy fuck, Ryan." Yaz rubbed her temple, heart still beating alarmingly fast.

 

"Hi Yaz! What a surprise to see you here."

 

"I live here."

 

"Yeah… "

 

Jo was still pressed against the car, one hand rubbing her hurt elbow and head slightly dipped to the left, which could be either surprise or genuine fear.

 

Yaz groaned audibly.

 

"This is Ryan. My neighbor." She spoke the last word hastily and punched his side.

 

"Hiya." Ryan giggled annoyingly and nodded.

 

Jo waved unphased and froze for a moment, a thought suddenly occurring to her. She turned to look at Ryan, brow furrowed in confusion:

 

"Wait, so… you mean Yaz talked about me?"

 

Ryan's eyes bulged out with childish glee:

 

"Did she! Did she talk about you?! HA! It's all she ever does! Honestly it's very tiring sometimes, me and gramps have to-"

 

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by another one of Yaz’s punches, only it was a lot stronger this time with a tight fist:

 

"If you don't shut up  _ right now _ , I swear I'm gonna-"

 

"Oh I… okay… " Jo's face turned to an even brighter shade of pink, somehow. She fumbled with the car keys, hands fidgeting as always.

 

"Nice to erm meet you Ryan! I think I should go now, though.” she stopped mid-thought, eyes growing wider “I, er, I know it sounds like I’m just trying to get away but- oh that doesn’t sound good either.” she opened and closed her mouth, hands nervously rubbing each other. “Melody is probably missing me right now… I'll text you later, okay?"

 

Yaz giggled and nodded, half relieved. They said their goodbyes and soon enough the blue Lumina was gone.

 

Ryan turned to stare at her, that dumb grin refusing to leave his face.

 

"I hate you so much." She said, facing forwards to avoid his gaze.

 

"Yeah."

 

/////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me throwing this fanfic in the hiatus void: ( ╯°□°)╯  
> I didn't mean for it to take this long oh god but what matters is it's here right?? *nervous laughter*  
> And for the two people that are interested in this story: please go check out the thirteen fanzine!! It'll be out tomorrow (15/06) and there are some amazing (and famous) creators there!! ALSO I'M PART OF IT AND STILL SCREAMING https://thirteenfanzine.tumblr.com/
> 
> And yeah! Let me know your thoughts or any criticism really. Take care, until next time (whenever that will be) bye!!


	8. A bunny cop (part one)

Yaz’s wet hair was still slightly dripping on her t-shirt when her mobile began to ring. The familiar chords of Arctic Monkeys’ "Fluorescent Adolescent" filled the room. Yaz walked up to see Jo's picture on the screen and wasted no energy trying to hold back the involuntary smile forming on her face. She picked up the phone excitedly:

 

"Hey! What's up, Jo?"

 

"Hiya Yaz! Humm, well, you see… I've got a little of a problem. Not really a problem just…"

 

Her words trailed off, filled with nervousness. Yaz held the phone closer to her face, beginning to worry:

 

"Is everything okay?"

 

"Yeah. It’s just that Clara is sick and I don't have anyone to look after Melody tonight. I'm really sorry… She just messaged me, I thought of calling her girlfriend, Ashildr, to see if she could come instead, but I figured she'd probably want to spend the day with Clara."

 

A weird silence hung over the line and she could practically feel Jo kicking herself over her choice of words. Yaz reached with her free hand to the fluffy towel spread on her bedside and then spoke in a weak attempt to hide the hurt in her tone. 

 

"Oh… that’s okay. I understand."

 

"Are you sure? I’m really sorry, Yaz, I can make it up to you… How about we do it some other time then?"

 

An idea occurred to Yaz, she twisted her fingers in the towel as she thought it through.

 

“You still there?” Jo’s voice was half-joking, half-worried.

 

"Yeah well, I was just thinking that maybe… maybe you two could come over to my place?" Yaz shut her eyes and bit her lower lip as she waited for a reaction. Thankfully, Jo answered right away.

 

“Oh! I would love that! I’m sure Melody will be excited too. Are you sure though? Four year olds can be a handful.”

 

Yaz let out a faint chuckle.

 

"I think I can handle it. Humm, I don't have any toys here or any children’s stuff but we could watch cartoons or something like that. I reckon it could be fun."

 

"Yeah, I would love that. Are we making dinner then?"

 

"Sure! We could make homemade pizza, what do you think?"

 

"Homemade pizza with Yaz. Brilliant!"

 

“See you then!”

 

/////

 

It was only a quarter to five when Yaz, head deep in her kitchen cupboards, realized her useless brain hadn’t thought this through. She shook the half-empty packet of yeast in front of her face and groaned in frustration. She nervously glanced at the clock again, momentarily wondering if she should simply wait for Jo to arrive and explain they were going to just have to order some regular pizza.

 

She hesitated, her heart beginning to ache with guilt. Jo had been excited with the suggestion and it was going to be so fun for Melody too… 

 

She made up her mind quickly, holding back a shiver as she stepped outside her flat. As the sun was slowly setting over the horizon, Yaz hurried down the hallway, praying only Graham would be home to help her out. She’d just about murdered Ryan last time and didn’t think she could take any more teasing on his part.

 

That is, without him receiving a proper punch on the stomach.

 

She knocked on Graham’s door and fidgeted. With a start, she realized she still had the yeast package in her hands. The metallic sound of keys turning in the lock heightened her anxiety until the door finally swung open. Yaz released a relieved breath when she saw Graham’s kind blue eyes.

 

“Oh, hello, Yaz, what can I do for you?”

 

“Graham! Hey! Uhmm I’m having a friend over and I ran out of yeast, do you think I could borrow some? It’s an emergency.”

 

His eyes widened a bit but nevertheless nodded with a small smile.

 

“Yeast. Yes, of course, give me a moment. Come in.”

 

Yaz nodded in thanks and stepped inside just as Graham turned to the kitchen to look for the ingredient. Opening the wooden cabinets, he glanced back at her as he rummaged inside. 

 

“So, what kind of emergency do you need yeast for, huh?”

 

Yaz only had time to open her mouth to answer his gentle teasing when a loud, incredibly annoying voice came from another room.

 

_ “Is Yaz finally getting it on with her girlfriend?” _

 

“Her daughter is gonna be there too, you  _ dickhead! _ ” Yaz shouted back. Graham only closed his eyes in annoyance and sighed at their usual sibling-like banter.

 

“Here you go, dear.” He handed Yaz a small paper bag, which she folded in her jacket pocket.

 

“Thanks Graham, I owe you one.”

 

“Anytime, Yaz.” Just as he was sliding the door shut, Graham snuck his head in the small door gap with wall and whispered to her, “Good luck on your date.”

 

Yaz had no time to groan in frustration or sigh, instead she watched as the door slid shut and ran back to her apartment. 

 

It was only fifteen minutes later when a tentative knock sounded on her door. She didn’t even bother to look through the peephole and simply made her way to open it, but her reaction time was cut short when Melody’s small figure dashed over the doorstep. The little girl was soon running around all over her flat and giggling, as if she had just landed on a big and colorful alien ship. Yaz turned to look back at Jo, who was dressed in a long creamy-white sweater with a smiling taco drawn on the front. Her face was a mix of disappointment and acceptance over her kid’s behaviour.

 

“I know this sounds like a bad parent’s excuse, but I told her at least three times not to do exactly that.”

 

Jo tugged at her sweater’s long sleeves and took a few shy steps forwards, shaking her head.

 

“Sorry… Hi Yaz.”

 

Yaz only answered with a big smile, her hand quickly finding Jo’s waist, their bodies drawing closer to each other.

 

“Hey. I see you two had a nice day together?”

 

“Yeah, Melody even got to see pretty birds on the way, didn’t you, Mels?”

 

They waited for an answer, but the little girl was too busy kneeling down on the carpet and looking under the brown, fluffy sofa. She resembled a proper explorer. Jo closed her eyes in amusement for a quick second and smiled warmly at Yaz.

 

Noticing they were still standing outside with the door half open, Yaz laid a gentle kiss on her cheek and pulled her inside.

 

It was only when Melody’s face popped up from behind the couch did Yaz realize that that had been, as a matter of fact, the first time they were intimate around Melody. Anxiety and worry began to build their way around Yaz’s insides when she felt Jo’s fingers intertwining with her own. A rush of warmth spread through her body immediately at the contact and she relaxed, reassured that everything was okay.

 

Oblivious to any of what had happened, Melody was still energetically checking the apartment, bit by bit, when she abruptly halted in front of a dark red cloth, hanging in one very specific corner of the room. She curiously gazed at the cloth, one hand lifting up above her head to point at it:

 

“Mummy, what’s that?”

 

Jo marched to the corner of the room, hand still tightly gripping Yaz’s and bringing her along. She stopped next to her daughter and inspected the hung image. A few seconds passed in confusion, her brow was crinkled and her head was hanging practically sideways when Yaz decided to speak up.

 

“That shows me the direction of Mecca.” She kneeled next to Melody, her free hand pointing to the big box designed on the red cloth.

 

“What’s a mac, Yaz?”

 

“Mec-ca” Yaz pronounced slowly, still kneeling down. “Sometimes I sit down here and pray, when I do, I need to be facing that way.”

 

“Oh.” Melody turned to face her, visibly comfortable being at an equal height with her. “Are we gonna pray now?”

 

“Humm, well,” Yaz gave Jo a quick side glance, unsure how to answer for a second. “Not right now, but I could show you another time. How does that sound?”

 

Melody nodded quickly a few times, before continuing her exploration. Yaz looked up just in time to see Jo grinning from ear to ear at their small interaction. For some reason it made her cheeks go warm.

 

/////

 

“Okay, we just need to let it rest now.” Yaz finished wrapping the raw dough with cling film.

 

“Is it ready?” Melody asked from where she was seated on the high balcony. Her mum was close by, casually leaning on the wall. She sighed:

 

“Mels, do you know what the word ‘patience’ means?”

 

“Oh, hush,” Yaz turned to face Jo, half smirking. “Leave her alone.”

 

Jo proceeded to roll her eyes with mock exaggeration. She muttered something inaudible to her daughter, making her instantly giggle.

 

“So, Mels. Your mum mentioned you had something to show me, is that right?” Melody’s eyes were bright and sparkling as Yaz picked her up by the armpits to get her down from the balcony. As soon as her tiny feet were safely standing on the floor, the little girl took off running to the sofa.

 

After a few moments of searching her little green bag and of Jo quirking her eyebrow jokingly, Melody came rushing back, a DVD in each hand. Yaz felt a strong tug at her shirt, quickly noticing Melody wanted her to bend down to see what she had brought.

 

“This is Zootopia, we watched it in school and it’s super cool. Everyone wants to be like Judy Hopps, she’s a bunny but she’s also a cop!” Melody handed her the DVD cover with a cute little bunny and a fox on the front.

 

“Oh wow! And she’s really a cop?” Yaz made sure to turn the cover around and raise her eyebrows with surprise.

 

“Yeah! And all the other cops are big, they are GIANT animals you know! And she’s a bunny, but she’s good too!”

 

Yaz nodded encouragingly. “And this one?” she pointed to the other DVD.

 

“This one is Lilo and Stitch!” she brought it up to her face excitedly.

 

“Oh I've seen this once before, I think.”

 

“It’s the best movie ever! Can you believe mummy has only seen it ten times with me?”

 

“ _ Only _ ten?!” Jo's exasperated tone came from the other side of the room as she crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“Only ten!” Melody answered back, visibly missing her mum's sarcasm. Yaz briefly wondered at what age children started picking up on irony and, most importantly, when they started making their own witty comebacks.

 

Taking both DVDs in her hand, Yaz walked away from the kitchen and back to the main room. Melody followed obediently behind her, hand still gripping the edge of her shirt.

 

“Ok, which one do you want us to watch then?”

 

They finally got to the fluffy sofa, Melody’s grip on her shirt progressively loosening up as Yaz walked to the TV and DVD player. After switching the devices on, she turned to look back at the little girl.

 

“Hummmm… Mummy said you wanted to watch Judy Hopps… We’ll watch this one!” She pointed to the DVD on her left hand after one serious nod of her head. Feeling satisfied with her choice, she ran back to the couch and flung herself onto it.

 

“All set up,” Yaz stood up, returning the Lilo and Stitch DVD back inside the green backpack. She stopped halfway and looked around the room, something visibly missing. “Wait, where’s Jo?”

 

At the mention of her whereabouts, Jo was interrupted in whatever she was still doing in the kitchen. A loud bang came from her direction which sent Yaz into a wave of giggles, Melody quickly joining her.

 

She then suddenly appeared in the main room, a sheepish smile on her face. Melody continued to loudly laugh at her mum’s silliness.

 

“One day over at Yaz’s and you’re making fun of your mum now, huh?” She put her hands on her hips and pouted at Yaz. “You’re corrupting my daughter.” Which earned a chuckle before they settled beside Melody, comfortably sprawled on the couch and taking almost all of it to herself.

 

“C’mon, scoot over.” Jo playfully picked up her daughter and threw her to the other end of the sofa. She landed on her back and was quickly caught in another wave of laughter, her arms stretching over her head with enjoyment.

 

“Mummy, you’re  _ silly _ .” Melody said as she sat up with the most adorable toothy grin. And as different as their appearances were from each other, the mother and daughter resemblance was certainly obvious between the two. Just in that little grin Yaz could see Jo’s essence leaking out.

 

“She really did corrupt you!” Jo loudly gasped, hands gripping around the little girl’s head. “What did she do to you? Unless… Unless it’s not really Yaz and actually a legion of telepathic aliens!” She inspected Melody’s head again, looking for any antennas coming out of her brain. 

 

“Oh no! Mummy we have to stop them!” It was Melody’s turn to gasp loudly, her legs tucked away under her, eyes big and mouth hanging wide open with worry. “Mum! What if it’s the stenza? We can’t let them break the TV again!!”

 

Yaz sat down just by Jo’s side, a laugh escaping her as she knew exactly who must have broken their TV last time. She tucked her legs in as her head came to rest on Jo’s shoulder, in a practically perfect fit. She finally picked up the remote controller, pressed play, and the Disney logo soon appeared on the TV.

 

/////

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thanks to all the lovely people that motivated me and helped this chapter happen. So hetzi_clutch, TheRainbowFox, pandoraspockz and yasminkhxns, thanks for not letting this fanfic have a slow and painful death <3
> 
> OKAY as you can see, I am back! Sadly as you might have expected I don't have any other chapters written so who knows when I'll update again? (insert polite cat meme here)  
> Well, anyways, hope the chapter was a fun read. I love reading the comments so feel free to write whatever thoughts and feelings you have about the chapter.  
> Also, I had a few people commenting that they didn't quite follow some of Jo's physics/philosophy talks in previous chapters, so if you want just comment what you didn't understand and I'll love to gush some more about it! We can def make this a habit too, as I intend to have a lot more moment like that....
> 
> That's all I have for now, until next time and take care (✿◠‿◠)/


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